Route 66 Tour

Tour Charity

2007-08-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to report that our Tour raised $4064 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. This shows, once again the generosity, style and flair of the New Beetle community. Not only for a lot of fun and lasting memories, but for a great cause too. Thanks!

At The McCutcheon's

2007-07-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

This was a night at the McCutheons. The school in the background is the oldest continuously run single room school house in California and where both our daughters went to school.

I am starting to get back to normal, but have experienced a little bit of depression because I can not get out on the road. Being home is great, but being out and about with my NB friends is pretty special too.

The End, at least for me

2007-07-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well, last night I said good-bye to my great tour friends. It was very sad for me to realize that my adventure was now over - although it was great to be back home after 6,328 miles of fun. To catch you up, here are a few pictures from Day 18 - Williams, AZ to Victorville, CA.

The Rusty Bolt in Seligman, AZ. A fun town and we got to talk with the barber that has been the spokesman for Route 66 and is responisible for its re-juvination.

This is the old gas station at Hackenberry, AZ. Just too much stuff to take in.

This is a reproduction gas station on Sitgreaves Pass in CA. This part of the road was very narrow and curvy and went way up the mountain and then down again - the best part of the Route 66 for us driver people. If you remember the Long, Long Trailer movie it is where Lucy put rocks in the trailer and they had a scarry drive over the summit. It was over 115 degrees when this picture was taken- very, very hot.

Here are a few pictures form the last day from Victorville, CA to Santa Monica, CA. We were joined by Sue Cowling from the So Cal New Beetle club on Foothill Blvd and Luke Hall came down from Ojai, CA to help us enjoy the trip from Santa Monica up the coast to Santa Barbara, CA.

The Wigwam Hotel on Foothill Blvd in San Bernadino, CA. This is the sister hotel with the one in Holbrook, AZ.

Lunch stop at the Classic Car Restaraunt in Glendora, CA.

The end of Route 66 at Santa Monica, CA. The "Easterners" got their first look at the Pacific Ocean.

Now we are officially done with the Route 66 portion, but some stayed an extra day to see CA.

We drove North up HWY 1 along the beach to the Hearst Castle.

Bugs along the Pacific Ocean, near San Simieon, CA.

We all enjoyed a great dinner at Richard Grasick's house in Lompoc, CA (they joined us in Roswell). A great way to wind down and say our good-byes.

Some of our group are now going back accross country to home and I hope they have a great, and safe, trip. Give me a couple of days to collect my thoughts and I'll post my version of what happened. I now have to write a couple of articles for some magazines and I'll keep you posted if they are published. If you have time go through all the pictures from everyone, you can see a lot of the fun. It was amazing and even better than I every imagined and completing this dream with my New Beetle friends has just blew me away. And we have unofficially raised several thousand dollars for the National Breast Cancer Foundation (I'll post the end result once Motel 6 and I get together.) We can all be proud to be a part of our New Beetle group.

1 extra post.....

2007-07-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

It looks like Jerry ran out of clothes too.....

DAY 18

2007-07-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

I guess this was a really hot day...120 Earl thought. It melted some wires and hoses on Earl's car....or maybe they just said..... I'm done! Luckily he had packed extra spark plugs etc. ...no room for clothes but he made room for car parts....

They made it to Seligman, which I have been to. It has fun photo ops everywhere.

...and cool looking Hackberry and then they took the "long long trailer" hill to Oatman. Which is not easy for people in states with no hills to drive.....They probably just kept thinking..... "Lucy and Ricky did it..."

He called on his way to Barstow and they will stay in Victorville tonight. It should cool down some. Hope nothing else melts....
Mike and Luke took off this morning for home. Mike sent me some pic I will post for you. This is one of the parade shots....

I guess they had to stop the fireworks because of a brush fire.
This is the group at the Grand Canyon.......they shouldn't stand so close to that EDGE! ...look away Syd....

So tomorrow maybe Earl will post. I have to go mow the lawn....

DAY 17

2007-07-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

Well Earl thought he sent photos but I don't see them. He reported that most people went to see the big hole in the ground. I figure for Luke that is kinda a busman's holiday....The Grand Canyon is always so awesome to see...and not in the surfer dude way.... I remember the first time I saw it I wondered what the first people who stumbled upon it thought...after they got over the fact is was going to be hell to get around it....Now that have that invisible bridge thing....I am curious what people think.....I am barely able to look over the edge as it is...I doubt I could step on that thing.

Earl reported there was a fun little local parade. Everyone brought out their tractors and I think he said there were dancing grannies in the parade too...so sorry I did not get that pic for ya.

The fireworks were to start at 9:30. Then to bed to take the next to last leg of Route 66.

Warning...don't get too near Earl he has run out of clean clothes...He said he keeps buying new T-shirts.....That will help.

DAY 16

2007-07-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

The group hit Williams, AZ at the base of the Grand Canyon about 6PM. They stopped at the Hotel El Rancho where the theme was old Western movie stars, on the way.
Here in Gallop, NM they filmed lots of Westerns. I hope they watched the cliffs for ambushers.

They stopped at the Jack Rabbit Trading Post where Lisa tried Bunny riding...she is working her way up to Bull riding....
And here is Stephanie..."standin' on the corner in Winslow Arizona" .....
...and such a fine sight to see....

DAY 15

2007-07-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

You want pictures? ...we got pictures....http://community.webshots.com/album/559667786SrdRQH and http://community.webshots.com/album/559721028uuRBEh These are Mike's fabulous pics. He doesn't miss anything! Go and enjoy...then come back....

The 10 cars made it to Albuquerque today with a nice visit to the VW dealership, where some people had a few things looked at, and then hamburgers at Sue and Arron's new house...those retired bums...oops did I type that outloud? I am just jealous....

So Earl got his phone to send the pics but really Mike's are so much better... of course.....real camera....dah.

Tomorrow is Williams, AZ. with fireworks on the fouth. It should be amazing. Earl said it was 110 degrees today and he was exhausted. They looked at about 400 pictures of the trip when they were at Sue's.

So I will download a couple pics from Earl ...enjoy!

VW ranch...

I think this is some kinda parking lot brain surgery....

DAY 13 and 14

2007-07-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Earl was having too good of a time to call yesterday ( I 'll quit worrying that he got beamed up now). I just got an update. He is really having a great time. He heard there were 120 cars and about one third are new. The big winner was a red metal flake from Albuquerque.
Lots of winners from their caravan. But Isaac didn't get the message that the mud spattered class had been dropped. He would have won that class. These little cars are on loan from the Jerry Museum. From what I hear this is a drop in the bucket..... Earl has enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. He said one of the highlights was the blow up drive-in movie screen that they put up in the parking lot of the convention center. They showed the McGuire piece and a Herbie movie. He did a little shopping today I guess. ...and where are we going to put a barber's pole.....?

The silent auction went really well, raising over $350. for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Not the Beast Cancer Foundation, as I reported before....they don't really need our money.

Today is a road rally and some have taken off for Carlsbad Caverns.

So no photos from Earl but I am posting one from a blog I found in Stephanie email. Great shot! and from Spacegirl flickr link...Thanks ...Also if you go to the link for the pod cam, Lisa has all the winner listed there and some great car show pics from her flickr site.

DAY 12

2007-06-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Well I guess everyone is having too much fun to give me an update. I did hear from Earl earlier. He had found a screw in his tire when he had it off cleaning his fender wells, and was surprised he did not have a flat and really glad it did not go flat out there in the desert! ...He did not meet Matar, from Cars, out there so he would have had a stranger tow him...hehehe

Earl did say that they had a great time at Tia Juana's last night. He enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new people today. Mike Levy made it today but he had a little trouble on the road and had damage to the front of his car. The weather was not too hot. And the sky watch party is tonight.

check out these photos

2007-06-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

This is from Stephanie's flickr site with great photos of the trip. To see go here.

DAY 11 Roswell !

2007-06-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

Another fun day....Still no photos but Earl said that they visited a cool restored gas station in Vega, TX then on to Halfway Cafe in Adrien, TX which is the inspiration for the V8 Drive-in in the Cars movie. Again they lucked out and they met Flo and the 2 waitresses that played the Miatas that were in the bleachers....They met up with the rest of the New Beetle group in Clovis, New Mexico then on to Roswell.

John Steel is the winner of the "guess Earl's mileage to Roswell"contest. Earl has gone 4,751 so far....but Luke has gone over 5,000. He went out early to visit with his daughters.

They are all meeting tonight for dinner at Tia Juana's.

DAY 10

2007-06-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

No photos yet, but the pod cam is up and running.....Earl said it was an amazing day. They had huge amounts of rain and he is so thankful they made it through everything OK. The trunks are allowed to go the same speed as the cars in these states (which is not suppose to be the case in CA)....so add heavy rain and big fast trucks and you get...scary!

They got to meet "Sally" and her story is so interesting. Even though Earl had emailed, it was so lucky they caught her. She grew up in OK and could hardly wait to leave...and did at 18. She worked on a cruise ship for awhile then saw it was a dead end even though she loves the sea. So she planned to open a restaurant in Costa Rica. But before she could, there was a death in the family that brought her back to OK. I think Earl said a family friend offered her the Rock Cafe in Stroud, OK for $60. a month so she could learn the business before she moved to Costa Rica. Well she never left. Been there 13 years. She is like the character in the movie. She had lots of good philosphy and even though Disney made her famous she says she still cleans the toilets and does what needs to be done and loves it. She said she did not like the part in the movie about Sally's tatto ( pin stripeing). She thought that gave young girls bad ideas. They went to the place where the Fillmore character ( old flower power VW van) was and then later at the OK. Route 66 Museum met the guy they based Fillmore on, Bob. He is a great artist that has done Route 66 drawings mostly for post card for years. They are real "journal" looking.... Earl's and my favorite kind of sketches. Now he says he is done with the drawings of Route 66. He just happen to be there and plans to meet up again with the group in Williams, AZ on the 4th of July.

So about half the group went to Tucamcari, New Mexico and the others are in Amarillo, TX and ate at the Big Texan Steakhouse. Susan went home to sleep in her own bed. They saw the VW ranch with the partly buried vws and the round barn.

Tomorrow they will be in Roswell, NM in time to eat dinner at Tia Juana's.

DAY 9

2007-06-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

They spent most the day in MO. Earl said everyone is real nice and come talk and take pictures of them.
They went to Meramec Caverns, which Earl said was real nice and interesting. Here is Luke lookin' cool. I bet he had lots of interesting geology facts for everyone.

This bridge is between Springfield and Raleigh....He said it was Red Road Bridge. Not sure if that is the name or just an observation....

And this is the Rainbow Bridge....They sure do love those bridges. This is going into Kansas. Route 66 only goes 13.2 miles in Kansas.

They ate here at the Devil's Elbow, I think this is it. It is in MO. somewhere after Springfield.....Earl is getting vague-er and vague-er. I think the miles are getting to him alittle....He even forgot to tell me what he ate...

Not sure what this is...Maybe it is the toy museum. I hope he does forget where it is. I want to come back here and spend some time.
One more photo to come... of the Blue Whale. He must be in an area where he can't send pics now.

He said it rained off and on all day. They are in Tulsa, OK now for the night and there are 18 cars. Tomorrow some are going to Amarillo, TX to see the real Sally at the Rock Cafe....Sally was the inspiration for the Cars cartoon/movie, and some are going into New Mexico.

DAY 8

2007-06-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

I hope this is OK. I am posting the great flickr photos link. It is a welcome relief from the rough phone pics.

They started at the Route 66 Museum where Earl and Jerry joined the Blues Brothers. I wonder who had the 4 fried chickens and who had the dry white toast???
Earl took 3 pictures going down the roads of Ill. that looked all about the same. So here is one of them.

He said all the little towns are so cute...maybe he used another word...but I heard "cute". Now there are 16 and it is humid...tough on Californians.
They have seen 2 of the 3 giants of Route 66, today. One is at the Launching Pad.
... and the one with the hot dog...getting roasted it looks like...is just somewhere, Earl said.

This is Jerry and Kathy at Rolling Rock Bridge.
Here they are again at the Mississippi...is that right?.....But that is Jerry and Kathy. I just not sure with body of water they are hanging out at.This is the Mississippi, for sure....

And here are the "mother" of the golden arches...St. Louis.
This is where the corn dog was invented, the Cozy Dog....shouldn't that be "dog cozy"?...Springfield. MO.

They had Ted Drew's Frozen Custard in Springfield, MO...but Earl had a banana split....FYI.

So they are bedding down in Fenton, MO. and Lisa has the Pod Cam working so check it out at the link.

DAY 7

2007-06-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Another jam packed great day ...except for the detours and traffic problems in Chicago. The token Canadian, Howie, joined them today also Chris and Carrie Haze from Colorado. I just found out that Lisa Herr from Wisconson joined them in time for the VW of America festivities. She came by ferry...or did he mean fairy....anyway it was a long ride for Lisa, Earl said.
They stopped at the Bugfest and were all given a warm greeting and third place throphies. Kirk and Pam Schulz went out their to make everyone feel special. It was much appreciated.
This museum looking place is the White Fence Farm Restaurant....I know again with the food...but Earl forgot to tell me what he had....so you get a break. They claim to have the best chicken in the world.

The are bedding down in Joliet, outside Chicago, and waiting for 3 more cars tonight and then there will be 12. Lisa had some problem with the pod cam and had to stop to get it fixed, was the report on why they are not there yet. They start on Route 66 at 9 AM.

A side note: Earl said the VW of America gave him some New Beetle salt and pepper shakers that he will auction off at Roswell. The proceeds will go to National Beast Cancer Foundation. BTW, Earl has been getting some nice donations along the way. If you plan on donating when you see him, he can not give out receits, but if you make out a check to National Beast Cancer Foundation, that will be good enough for your tax man, we understand. And thank you to everyone who has donated so far!

PS...Earl has gone 3,417miles so far!

DAY 6

2007-06-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

It sounds like it was a big day. One they will never forget. After a night in Jerry's Museum they visited the V W Headquarters and museum.

Lynn Anderson, here with her family, was so instrumental in making this happen.
Earl said it was a once in a lifetime experience.They made a cake for everyone with the blog picture that Earl and daughter, Jill worked on, on it.
Earl's highlight was being given the last chunk of the clay form of the concept car. He will have it at Roswell to show everyone. Isaac from California, did not get there in time to see the VW headquarters but he did see the Chrysler Museum before heading back home so he can turn around and come back to Roswell....NO one drives more than Isaac.
So they are in Auburn Hills outside Detroit tonight. FYI: Canada is actually South of this place. Earl had German potato salad, a favorite of his, at a great German Resturant he said...that was also "FYI".

Tomorrow they will be in Chicago and start the long awaited Route 66 cruz. There are now 7 of them...the Chicago 7.... . This is Mark Gilson in Jerry's car checking the codes, which was almost the same as Earl's.

DAY 5

2007-06-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

Now there are 4....Luke along with Richard and Linda Jeffries from Maryland met up with Susan and Earl in Columbus, Ohio today. Tonight Jerry and Kathy will join the pack.....Cueball's cell light is on now...Maybe Corprate can look into that tomorrow.....hehe

Day 4 and a half

2007-06-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Earl got his photos to send. So here are the highlights. He called from Dick and Judy's Restaurant in Jamestown, Indiana where he and Susan were having peach cobbler. Susan's mileage was about 1,600 and Earl's wasabout 2,200.

This is Susan in front of the Buffalo Bill Museum

...and this is the mandatory 2 headed cow in the museum

This is the Arch Monument outside North Platte Nebraska.

This the the New Beetle monument....

This is crossing the Mississippi...can anyone spell Mississippi without doing the little sing song thing in your head? OK maybe it is just me...

This is crossing the Ill. River in the rain...poor Cueball. This is unjust treatment for that car.....

OK so we are back on track. I will get an official report tonight when they meet up in Colombus, Ohio.

DAY 4

2007-06-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

Still no photos but Earl said not much to see. He thinks Iowa is like Nebraska only wrinklier....They were right ahead of the storm that did alot of damage. Susan Hester and he are in Davenport, Iowa and the storm has caught up to them they are hoping for no hail....Cueball would be a flaming golf ball....No one want to see that! They went 570 miles today and it took 9 and a half hours. Tomorrow they will meet up with Mark, Luke and Jerry. Everything is a go for the VW tour on Sat. Luke called Earl and said he had car trouble....that pesky fan thing and then he ran over something that made his transmission drip. He's all fixed up now. Susan said that they have amazing rest stops with wireless connections. WOW....
I was wrong the pod cam is not running until Sat. But there are past Roswell footage on that link.

Day 3

2007-06-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

Earl called and we discovered our cell service does not allow him to send photos etc. from that far away. I will look into that. Anyway..... The most important thing is that the pod cam is active! ..... here is the link http://allpodsgotoroswell.net/ Lisa Linn is handleing this. Every year it is a big hit. I just checked it and it looks like she has it off....the girl does need to sleep!
I forgot to mention that yesterday Earl saw lots of Nasa cars being towed somewhere Sears.....?

So today Earl met up with Susan Hester and they saw the tourist traps in North Platte, Nebraska. On the way there he saw "waves of golden grain". He said the prarie grass was so beautiful and went on forever.

Day 2

2007-06-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

It was a 12 hour drive and I don't think Earl never wants to see Nevada again. He now knows what the Salt Lake is all about. He says it is like the ocean. He was excited to see Bonneville, after seeing it on TV so many times.
Park City was really beautiful and he had great Mexican food at the Loco Lizard there. Earl is bedding down in Evanston, Wyoming for the night and took a dip in a real pool. He says it is in the 90's. Is that the mountains in the Cars movie....?

Syd here....

2007-06-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

I will be updating for Earl and Cueball.

Earl has gone 557 mi as of DAY 1, and is in Sparks Nev. He had a $5. prime rib across from his motel, that has a hole in the ground for a pool.
He stopped at Mojave dessert.
Looking at the snow on the mountains while it was 100 degrees,

He has gone from sea level to 8,563 feet at Deadman's Sumit.

He paid $4.25 a gallon at Lee Vinig, CA.

Tomorrow is the longest day then he will meet up with Susan Hester.

The Tour Has Started!!

2007-06-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

It is 5:30 in the morning on June 18th and I am off! My starting mileage is 144,350 for the contest. I will be going up through the desert on Hwy 14 and on up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Hwy 395 to Reno, my first stop. I have not been on this road for about 40 years so I am looking forward to seeing it again.

I will be sending pictures back to Syd so she can post them onto the blog so try to look at it and check my progress. I hope we can do this every day.

NewsFrom VWoA

2007-06-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Lynn Anderson wrote me today and said:
"I talked with Jill Reedy (VWoA representative) this morning and she confirmed Corporate will definitely open the museum at Noon on June 23rd, and will also provide lunch. She's also thinking about opening this up even further. She is thinking of contacting all NB owners in the vicinity, and stage a mini Roswell show in the parking lot. She expects to hear today or tomorrow, and will let me know whether that's a go - but she's optimistic that it will be."

This is great news and we all owe Lynn a debt of gratitude for helping with this part of our trip.

Looking at the End of the Trail

2007-06-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

I pre-ran the Los Angeles route the other day. It is pretty long, but interesting, through the streets of LA. We are planning a little deviation from the original Route 66 so that Lisa Herr can see Hollywood Blvd. We will jog off of Sunset Blvd up to Hollywood on Vine so we will be at Hollywood and Vine! We have decided that we may go to Disneyland (Jerry's desire) on the 7th depending on how everyone feels. Here is a picture of the Santa Monica Pier - the end of the road for Cueball, but Jerry and Lisa need to go back across the US to get home.

New Itinerary for California

2007-06-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

The new and final (maybe!) itinerary is below. Note that there is an optional route on June 27th, one going to Amarillo and the other going to Tucumcari, NM. The Motel 6s are shown with each stop as well as the alternate Blue Swallow in Tucumcarri. Best cost is to make your reservations on line using motel6.com and use their Click 6 Web Bargains.
* June 18 - Solvang, CA to Reno, NV (494 miles)
Reno-Airport Motel 6 #740
2405 Victorian Ave., Sparks, NV. (775) 358-1080
* June 19 - Reno to Evanston, WY (600 miles)
Evanston Motel 6 # 4026
261 Bear River Drive, Evanston, WY (307)789-0791
* June 20 - Evanston to North Platte, NE (575 miles)
North Platte Motel 6 #120
1520 S. Jeffers St., North Platte, NE (308) 534-6200
* June 21 - North Platte to Davenport, IA (579 miles)
Davenport Motel 6 #31
6111 N, Brady St., Davenport, IA (563) 534-6200
* June 22 - Davenport to Columbus, OH (487 miles) ARRIVE AT JERRY'S!
Columbus-Worthington Motel 6 #1486
7474 N. High St., Columbus, OH (614) 431-2525
* June 23 - Columbus to Auburn Hills, MI (205 miles) VISIT VWoA HEADQUARTERS & MI VW Clubs
Detroit-North Motel 6 #1065
1471 Opdyke Rd., Auburn Hills, MI (248) 373-8440
* June 24 - Auburn Hills to Chicago, IL (280 miles) VISIT WITH CHICAGO NB CLUB
Chicago-Juliet Motel 6 #1296
3551 Mall Loop Dr., Joliet, IL (815) 439-1332
* June 25 - Chicago to St. Louis, MO (300 miles) START THE ROUTE 66 LEG
St Louis-Fenton Motel 6 #1132 VISIT WITH THE ST. LOUIS VW DEALERSHIP
1860 Bowles Ave., Fenton, MO (636) 349-1800
*June 26 - St Louis to Tulsa, OK (393 miles)
Tulsa-West Motel 6 #386
5828 W, Skelly Dr., Tulsa, OK (918) 445-0223
* June 27 - Tulsa to Amarillo, TX (365 miles)
Amarillo-East Motel 6 #409
3930 I-40E, Amarillo, TX (806) 374-6444
*June 27 ALTERNATIVE - Tulsa to Tucumcarri
Tucumcarri - Blue Swallow Motel http://www.blueswallowmotel.com/
* June 28 to July 2 - Amarillo to Roswell, NM ( 215 miles) ARRIVE FOR R2K, EAT AT TIA JUANA'S
Roswell Motel 6 #4075 (Route 66 Caravan Host Hotel)
3307 N. Mai8n St., Roswell, NM (505) 625-6666
* June 28 option - Amarillo to Tucumcari, NM ARRIVE FOR R2K ON JUNE 29 STAY AT ROUTE 66 CARAVAN HOST HOTEL
* July 2 - Roswell to Albuquerque, NM (324 miles)
Albuquerque-Airport Motel 6 #1349 (VISIT WITH ALBUQUERQE VW DEALERSHIP)
1000 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE., Albuquerque, NM (505) 243-8017
* July 3 to July 5 - Albuquerque to Williams, AZ (210 miles) STAY FOR 2 DAYS, GRAND CANYON & FIREWORKS
Williams-West Motel 6 #4010
831 West Route 66 (928) 635-9000
* July 5 - Williams to Victorville, CA (300 miles)
Victorville Motel 6 #106
333 McMurray RD., Buellton, CA (805) 688-7797
*July 6 -Victorville to Solvang, CA and Lompoc, CA (250 miles) ARRIVE AT END OF ROUTE 66 & EARL'S HOUSE
*July 7 - Hang out around Santa Barbara

Volkswagen Dealerships Along the Trail

2007-05-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

Two dealerships have graciously invited our tour to stop by their showrooms during the tour :

*Suntrup Volkswagen
6000 S Lindburg Blvd.
Saint Louis, MO

Meet in the evening of June 25th

*University Volksawgen
5150 Ellison St. NE
Albuquerque, NM

Meet in the evening of July 2nd

They are helping with advertising, maybe feeding us, maybe donating to our charity, and handling media exposure in their areas.

Thanks to them!

Mix CD Swap for Caravaners

2007-05-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Marie Maire is co-organizing a mix CD swap for interested adventurers. She thought it would be a great way for people to get new music on the trip and meet each other in the process. She has set up a sign-up page with full details linked here:
http://hella-shoes.livejournal.com/23106.html
Deadline to sign-up is June 10th. It should all be fairly self-explanatory once you read through the sign-up information.

Charity Tour Too

2007-05-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

As you all know this tour is for giving back to the community as well as having the time of your life. We have a contract with the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The deal is that I will send them all the money we collect on August 1st, 2007. This gives me a little time to get my act together and to collect the charity donations from the "how many miles" donors that I have solicited. You can do your part too by getting people in your area to donate to the cause. They can make their tax deductible checks out to the "National Breast Cancer Foundation" or they can donate cash and you can give it to me for inclusion when you see me. As advertised the Motel 6 is giving $10 for every room we use and I have a couple of takers on the mileage thing so far. If you have been in this New Beetle group for as long as I then you know of several of our friends that have passed away or suffer from cancer. This is our chance to give back!

June Hot VW MAgazine

2007-05-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to Lynn Anderson for writing a very nice article in the June edition of Hot VW Magazine - "Mid West Scene". Everyone should read it and we owe Lynn big time for being our mouth piece. Some of you may remember Lynn form last years Roswell. She has graciously volunteered to help us out in Michigan and with VWoA (she is a new worker there - her second employment with VWoA). Unfortunately she can not join us on the Tour past MI as her son is graduating from high school with big time honors - congratulations!

Latest Itinerary with Tucumcarri Alternative

2007-05-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

The new and final (maybe!) itinerary is below. Note that there is an optional route on June 27th, one going to Amarillo and the other going to Tucumcari, NM. The Motel 6s are shown with each stop as well as the alternate Blue Swallow in Tucumcarri. Best cost is to make your reservations on line using motel6.com and use their Click 6 Web Bargains.
* June 18 - Solvang, CA to Reno, NV (494 miles)
Reno-Airport Motel 6 #740
2405 Victorian Ave., Sparks, NV. (775) 358-1080
* June 19 - Reno to Evanston, WY (600 miles)
Evanston Motel 6 # 4026
261 Bear River Drive, Evanston, WY (307)789-0791
* June 20 - Evanston to North Platte, NE (575 miles)
North Platte Motel 6 #120
1520 S. Jeffers St., North Platte, NE (308) 534-6200
* June 21 - North Platte to Davenport, IA (579 miles)
Davenport Motel 6 #31
6111 N, Brady St., Davenport, IA (563) 534-6200
* June 22 - Davenport to Columbus, OH (487 miles) ARRIVE AT JERRY'S!
Columbus-Worthington Motel 6 #1486
7474 N. High St., Columbus, OH (614) 431-2525
* June 23 - Columbus to Auburn Hills, MI (205 miles) VISIT VWoA HEADQUARTERS & MI VW Clubs
Detroit-North Motel 6 #1065
1471 Opdyke Rd., Auburn Hills, MI (248) 373-8440
* June 24 - Auburn Hills to Chicago, IL (280 miles) VISIT WITH CHICAGO NB CLUB
Chicago-Juliet Motel 6 #1296
3551 Mall Loop Dr., Joliet, IL (815) 439-1332
* June 25 - Chicago to St. Louis, MO (300 miles) START THE ROUTE 66 LEG
St Louis-Fenton Motel 6 #1132 VISIT WITH THE ST. LOUIS VW DEALERSHIP
1860 Bowles Ave., Fenton, MO (636) 349-1800
*June 26 - St Louis to Tulsa, OK (393 miles)
Tulsa-West Motel 6 #386
5828 W, Skelly Dr., Tulsa, OK (918) 445-0223
* June 27 - Tulsa to Amarillo, TX (365 miles)
Amarillo-East Motel 6 #409
3930 I-40E, Amarillo, TX (806) 374-6444
*June 27 ALTERNATIVE - Tulsa to Tucumcarri
Tucumcarri - Blue Swallow Motel http://www.blueswallowmotel.com/
* June 28 to July 2 - Amarillo to Roswell, NM ( 215 miles) ARRIVE FOR R2K, EAT AT TIA JUANA'S
Roswell Motel 6 #4075 (Route 66 Caravan Host Hotel)
3307 N. Mai8n St., Roswell, NM (505) 625-6666
* June 28 option - Amarillo to Tucumcari, NM ARRIVE FOR R2K ON JUNE 29 STAY AT ROUTE 66 CARAVAN HOST HOTEL
* July 2 - Roswell to Albuquerque, NM (324 miles)
Albuquerque-Airport Motel 6 #1349 (VISIT WITH ALBUQUERQE VW DEALERSHIP)
1000 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE., Albuquerque, NM (505) 243-8017
* July 3 to July 5 - Albuquerque to Williams, AZ (210 miles) STAY FOR 2 DAYS, GRAND CANYON & FIREWORKS
Williams-West Motel 6 #4010
831 West Route 66 (928) 635-9000
* July 5 - Williams to Santa Monica, CA to Buellton, CA (510 miles) ARRIVE AT END OF ROUTE 66 & EARL'S HOUSE
Buellton Motel 6 #62 (TRYING TO FIND A CHEAPER HOTEL IN AREA - STAY TUNED)
333 McMurray RD., Buellton, CA (805) 688-7797
*July 6 - Hang out in and around Santa Barbara CA
*July 7 - PARTY AT EARL'S

Around Amarillo

2007-05-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

Susan Hester will be our host in and around Amarillo TX. She is scouting several photo opportunities and is getting ready for us to eat dinner at the Big Texan - "the food is good and the night crowd is totally different and kind of fun" (it will be for sure if we are there!). She tells me there are several restored gas stations, like the ones pictured below, for us to see and take pictures at.

Look familiar?

She also is lining up the Bug Ranch in Conway TX (similar to the Cadillac ranch only with VW bugs). Remember to bring your camera!!!

Information Please

2007-04-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

It is getting closer and closer to Tour day (for me it is June 18th - 50 more days)! We are starting to do final planning on a few things along the way and are starting to need some better head counts. I still feel that it is a little bit in advance and we are not looking for firm commitments, but just need to know a tentative head and car count for some of the stops (like the VWoA Headquarters in Auburn Hills). Most of the trip will be spontaneous, but some things need a little advance planning. Please e-mail Jerry O'Hara, Lisa Herr, Susan Hester, or myself when and where you might be joining in and how many in your party (if you all ready have - thanks).

When the time draws a little closer we will be trying to get a cellphone list together so we can contact people along the way and stay in communication when outside radio ranges. Susan Hester has volunteered to be our communication link and you will be able to call her for tour information and schedules while we are out on the road. Keep an eye out for that request or send Susan an e-mail with your name, your car desription, and your cellphone number so we can get a list going.

Thanks, and the Tour is still heating up - boy this will be fun!

Tour Drink

2007-04-08T08:05:00.002-07:00

It is pretty interesting what people will do when they know you are interested in something or going on a trip. As the word gets out around here that I am going to travel Route 66 more and more things come my way and more and more people talk to me about it. It seems I can not hardly go anywhere lately without someone telling me a story about "back-in-the-day" when we traveled Route 66. Just the other day my daughter came home with this "route" beer from the grocers. They knew I was going and ordered them special. As I have said many times before - this is gonna be fun!

Sally the Porsche

2007-03-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

Jerry O' has got in touch with the lady that the Cars movie fashioned Sally after. He met her last year on his way to (or from) Roswell. She has a great restaurant between Oklahoma City and Tulsa on Route 66 and has invited us to stop by. Best thing is she drives a New Beetle! She says "The Rock Cafe is 1 hour from both citys and she remembers Herbie and Jerry and she and her daughter had a great time with them" - go figure!.

Tour Song

2007-03-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Lat night I saw the Wild Hogs movie. It was all right and kind of struck a chord with the Tour. Coming home all I could think of was a tune from somewhere in the past. It just seemed to match the spirit of the Tour so I am nominating it as the official Tour song. It was "Born to be Wild" by Stepinwolf. The lyrics that kept going through my mind were:
Get you motor running,
Get out on the highway,
Looking for adventure and whatever comes our way,
Born to be wild.

Yes you would think it would be getting our kicks on Route 66, but somehow this tune just seemed more fitting!

New Itinerary and Motel Information

2007-03-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

The new and final itinerary is below. Note that there is an optional route on June 28, one going to Roswell and the other going to Tucumcari, NM. The Motel 6s are shown with each stop. Best cost is to make your reservations on line using motel6.com and use their Click 6 Web Bargains.
* June 18 - Solvang, CA to Reno, NV (494 miles)
Reno-Airport Motel 6 #740
2405 Victorian Ave., Sparks, NV. (775) 358-1080
* June 19 - Reno to Evanston, WY (600 miles)
Evanston Motel 6 # 4026
261 Bear River Drive, Evanston, WY (307)789-0791
* June 20 - Evanston to North Platte, NE (575 miles)
North Platte Motel 6 #120
1520 S. Jeffers St., North Platte, NE (308) 534-6200
* June 21 - North Platte to Davenport, IA (579 miles)
Davenport Motel 6 #31
6111 N, Brady St., Davenport, IA (563) 534-6200
* June 22 - Davenport to Columbus, OH (487 miles) ARRIVE AT JERRY'S!
Columbus-Worthington Motel 6 #1486
7474 N. High St., Columbus, OH (614) 431-2525
* June 23 - Columbus to Auburn Hills, MI (205 miles) VISIT VWoA HEADQUARTERS & MI VW Clubs
Detroit-North Motel 6 #1065
1471 Opdyke Rd., Auburn Hills, MI (248) 373-8440
* June 24 - Auburn Hills to Chicago, IL (280 miles) VISIT WITH CHICAGO NB CLUB
Chicago-Juliet Motel 6 #1296
3551 Mall Loop Dr., Joliet, IL (815) 439-1332
* June 25 - Chicago to St. Louis, MO (300 miles) START THE ROUTE 66 LEG
St Louis-Fenton Motel 6 #1132
1860 Bowles Ave., Fenton, MO (636) 349-1800
*June 26 - St Louis to Tulsa, OK (393 miles)
Tulsa-West Motel 6 #386
5828 W, Skelly Dr., Tulsa, OK (918) 445-0223
* June 27 - Tulsa to Amarillo, TX (365 miles)
Amarillo-East Motel 6 #409
3930 I-40E, Amarillo, TX (806) 374-6444
* June 28 to July 2 - Amarillo to Roswell, NM ( 215 miles) ARRIVE FOR R2K, EAT AT TIA JUANA'S
Roswell Motel 6 #4075 (Route 66 Caravan Host Hotel)
3307 N. Mai8n St., Roswell, NM (505) 625-6666
* June 28 option - Amarillo to Tucumcari, NM ARRIVE FOR R2K ON JUNE 29 STAY AT ROUTE 66 CARAVAN HOST HOTEL
* July 2 - Roswell to Albuquerque, NM (324 miles)
Albuquerque-Airport Motel 6 #1349
1000 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE., Albuquerque, NM (505) 243-8017
* July 3 to July 5 - Albuquerque to Williams, AZ (210 miles) STAY FOR 2 DAYS, GRAND CANYON & FIREWORKS
Williams-West Motel 6 #4010
831 West Route 66 (928) 635-9000
* July 5 - Williams to Santa Monica, CA to Buellton, CA (510 miles) ARRIVE AT END OF ROUTE 66 & EARL'S HOUSE
Buellton Motel 6 #62
333 McMurray RD., Buellton, CA (805) 688-7797

Grand Canyon Train in Williams

2007-02-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

We have decided to stay in Williams,AZ for two days, arrive July 3rd, hang out July 4th, and leave July 5th. There are two things to do for the 4th. One is to go to the Grand Canyon on the Grand Canyon Railway . The second is just to hang out as Williams will have an Arts and Crafts fair, Town BBQ, and a spectacular Fireworks display.

The Grand Canyon Railway is hands-down the most adventurous way to travel to the Canyon. It will take you from grassy meadows to mountain passes - and back into history. Trains depart from historic Williams Depot each morning. During the one-and-a-quarter-hour journey, passengers are treated to live music and Wild Western entertainment. The train departs Williams Depot at 10a.m., arrives at the Grand Canyon at 12:15p.m., departs the Canyon at 3:30p.m. and arrives back in Williams at 5:45p.m. Reservations should be made well in advance. Coach-class admission: $54.95 adults; $24.95 children 2-16.

I am in contact with the chamber of comerce regarding the Fireworks and will let you know what they tell me.

Motel 6 Still in Works

2007-02-16T07:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in posting the Motels. It is my fault in that work has got me buried right now. Will try to "get-er-done" next week.

Slight Change in Itinerary

2007-02-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

By popular vote we are going to change the itinerary slightly to be able to visit the Grand Canyon. Also there will be an alternate route near Roswell.

We will be staying in Williams, AZ for another night, July 3rd and 4th. This allows people to take the antique train over to the Grand Canyon on July 4th and Williams has a better July 4th fireworks program than Needles. CA. We will leave from Williams on July 5th and go straight on to the end of Route 66 at the Santa Monica Pier and meet up with members of the SoCalNBClub. The Route from Needles to Los Angeles is pretty boring and I think we can get on the super highway and go until we get into Los Angeles. After the visit to the pier in Santa Monica we will drive up the coast through Malibu to Buellton, CA (very close to where I live) and get ready to party on July 6th. So the mileage from Williams to Buellton is about 300 or so (still very doable even with the Los Angeles traffic.

Some people want to stay on Route 66 from Amarillo to Tucumcari on June 28th and some want to go straight over to Roswell. This will be an alternate route (I think lead by Jerry O') and they will be staying at a 50's style hotel in Tucumcari on the 28th and drive into Roswell on morning of the 29th.

We have now selected all the suggested Motel 6 stops. I have given the list over to the marketing people and they are working up room blocks and (hopefully) dicounts. I will post all the Motels as soon as I get that information back. They told me maybe next week.

Route 66 Caravan Headquarters in Roswell

2007-02-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

We are working with Motel 6 Corporate to give us discounts for staying at Motel 6s during our trip and to contribute to our National Breast Cancer Foundation charity depending on how many rooms we get. It is now in the "sales" departments hands and should be decided soon. As soon as I get the word I'll put out a list of the motels we will be staying at during the tour.

I am a little scared, however, about waiting to get our rooms at the Motel 6 in Roswell which will be officially the "Route 66 Caravan Headquarters" where registration for R2K will take place this year (instead of the Sally Port). I'm nervous because the UFO Festival is on at the same time as R2K and Motel rooms will get scarce. The Motel is pretty new and is just North up Main Street from the Sally Port at 3307 N. Main St (closer to Tia Juan's restaurant where the Thursday greet and meet takes place). I would really like to get as many New Beetles to stay there as possible, whether you are joining our tour or not. They have told me they will help us have a spot on Friday, June 29th, to have a car cleaning party. The more people the more fun!!!

There are about 75 rooms available now, but will be going away soon. Please make your reservations now to make sure you get a room to join the fun and we can get our discounts later once we get that cleared. Please mention that you are with the Route 66 New Beetle Caravan. The telephone number for the Motel is (505) 625-6666. The current advertised price for this week end is $53 to $62 per night and $6 per additional adult, not including any discount. Yes they are pet friendly.

A Drive for Breast Cancer Prevention

2007-01-28T08:25:00.000-08:00

The Route 66 Tour has officially been accepted as a charity for the National Breast Cancer Foundation! Sadly I can think of several of our New Beetle friends that have, or are, battling this terrible disease called cancer. Please make any donation checks to the Foundation, give them or cash donations to Earl during, or just after, the Tour. I have gotten my local dealership, Community VW of Santa Maria, CA, to pledge $.10 a mile, not to exceed $600. This is one way to get some donations to a very deserved charity. There are probably several more ways that you clever people can figure out. Now the "Mother Road to the Mothership" Tour is not only going to be great fun and adventure - it is for a great cause too.

Water Bag

2007-01-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

No that is not a man purse hanging from Herbie's rear view mirror it is a water bag. These were commonly used, back in the day, when traveling the Route. Fill them with water and hang them outside your car to keep them cool. Old cars and the desert seemed to demand their need!

You will be able to find antiques and goodies like this nostalgic piece along the Route.

Caravans are Fun

2007-01-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

Most of us have been involved in a caravan. I just thought that some may not know what I am talking about, or have forgotten how fun they are. I kind of like to be near the end so I can look across our vast dashboard at the "string of beads" ahead. What a great sight! The cars winding around and up and down, the banter on the radios, the great comeradary with my best friends. Now add a great "vacation" road (like HWY 66) and a leisurley pace with great things to see and explore -- well in my book that just can not get any better.

So if you are like minded, or just want to have a great adventure, you should try to join our group - even if it is for an afternoon. You will remeber it for a long time to come.

Remember life is the journey, not the destination!

Pre-Run of some of the West

2007-01-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

Coming back from visiting my parents in Colorado for Thanksgiving I got the chance to pre-run some of the West leg of Route 66. I do not want to spoil it for everyone so I will only post some teaser photos. We stayed in Williams, AZ and then drove on the Road from Williams to Needles. I am very excited as this is going to be very fun and interesting! Williams is a neat little town, the entry to the Grand Canyon, and has a loop going through town that was Route 66. Great restaurants and neat antique and curio stores. Next was Seligman, AZ where we stopped at the Rusty Bolt. A great curio shop that had several old cars and dummies set up for photo ops. Driving on we got to Hackberry, Az.

This is an old gas station that has so much stuff you could not see it all if you stayed the whole day. We talked to the proprietor an hour or so and he told us a lot of Route 66 tales. In between the great sites is a lonely road with lots of desert stuff to look at.

The road was very good, smooth and well maintained and will be lots of fun for our caravan. Even traveling along with one car was fun and interesting ,but a caravan of friends will even be more fun. Just can not wait for the adventure of a lifetime!

I will pre-run the Road in and around the Los Angeles area later this year.

Earl and Jerry O', Cueball and Herbie

2007-01-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

Here are your fearless leaders at last year's Roswell. Would you buy a car from these guys?

Potential Adventurers

2007-01-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

I have added a list of the people and cars (Tenative Participants) that have told me they are thinking about joining in on the fun, either all or part. If you do not see your name please e-mail me or write in the comments section so I can add you to the growing list!

Roswell in Hot VW Magazine

2006-12-29T16:17:00.000-08:00

Lynn Anderson wrote a very nice article about R2Kv7, "Alien Diversion". It is in the February 2007 Dune Buggies and Hot VWs magazine, the one that has the "40th Anniversary Special" banner on the cover. It was very insightful and portrayed our event as the fun, people oriented event that it is. Only problem is that she put the old dates in for R2Kv8, Roswell will be held on June 29th to July 1st. She correctly said that some of the fun is just getting there and she gave the 2007 Route 66 Tour its first offical plug. This Tour is in that spirit of trying to make the trip to the Mothership that much more fun and make the 8th year a very special one for all. Great article, nice pictures, Lynn and thanks for the plugs (for both the OFF club and the Tour). Thanks to Lynn for showing that the New Beetle is merly an extension to the great heritage of the air-cooled Beetle (just a cousin - not an enemy!), us New Beetle enthusiasts owe you a debt of gratitude. Great job!!!

Banner

2006-12-26T12:13:00.000-08:00

Here is the tentative itinerary:
June 18 - Solvang, CA to Reno, NV (494mi) ; June 19 - Reno, NV to Evanston, WY (600mi) ; June 20 - Evanston, WY to North Platte, NE (575mi) ; June 21 - North Platte, NE to Davenport, IA (579mi) ; June 22 - Davenport, IA to Columbus, OH (487mi) ; June 23 - Columbus, OH to Auburn Hills, MI (205 mi) ; June 24 - Auburn Hills, MI to Chicago, IL (280mi) ; June 25 (start Route 66 portion) - Chicago, IL to St. Louis, MO (300mi) ; June 26 - St. Louis, MO to Tulsa, OK (393mi) ; June 27 - Tulsa, OK to Amarillo, TX (365mi) ; June 28 - Amarillo, TX to Roswell, NM (215mi) ; June 29 through July 1 - R2K ; July 2 - Roswell, NM to Albuquerque, NM (324mi) ; July 3 - Albuquerque, NM to Williams, AZ (210mi) ; July 4 - Williams, AZ to Needles, CA (210mi) ; July 5 (end Route 66 portion) - Needles, CA to Sana Monica, CA (222mi), July 6 - Party at Cueball's after 5,634 miles!!!

Back to the East Coast - TBD, probably along Hwy 40.

The Blog is up!!!

2006-12-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

My wife has helped me start this blog for our 2007 Route 66 "the Mother Road to the Mothership" Tour. I hope this will allow everyone to view the planning and to communicate with the adventurers. I am off for a couple of days and hope to build it up to be a respectable communicator.